Hey Everyone-
I know its a little early but I like to plan ahead. I`m going to smoke a whole turkey for Thanksgiving this year like I did last year but that was done on a 22 1/2 one touch. I am considering doing a practice run the next two weeks or so.

Any suggestions from you who have done this before on the WSM? Woods? Rub? Etc...

Thanks!

Light cherry smoke
rub - keep it simple

I like to brine for 24 hours.

Turkey Talk

This forum has lots of information. Should be open soon.

I usually use Keri's Apple Brine and with some apple and cherry wood.

quote:

Originally posted by Russell Y:
Turkey Talk

This forum has lots of information. Should be open soon.

I usually use Keri's Apple Brine and with some apple and cherry wood.

Yep .. Me too.

If you're not on somebody's (s)hit list, you're not doing anything worthwhile

I must be doing everything right ~ I'm on everyone's list lately!

Bill

My favorite holiday of the year! I'm actually starting to make my plans now. What wines will I serve, who we're inviting, what will we be serving etc.

I'm a cherry wood guy and will be doing my Jack Daniel's and Maple Syrup brine again this year. Don't use a rub, just some salt and pepper. EDIT Per C. Howlett's request below you can see the recipe HERE the only other thing I would add is the water is a mixture of 1/2 cup table salt per gallon of water. You can also see the final product HERE just to get your Thanksgiving juices flowing.

Anxiously awaiting Turkey Talk opening back-up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LarryR,

Cherry wood works fine but try maple if you can get it.

quote:

Originally posted by LarryR:
...

I'm a cherry wood guy and will be doing my Jack Daniel's and Maple Syrup brine again this year. Don't use a rub, just some salt and pepper.

Anxiously awaiting Turkey Talk opening back-up.

No need to wait, Larry. You can just go on ahead and post the brine recipe NOW!!!

I've had a fair amount of success with chipotle orange recipe that I could help you with.

brining is key, plan to do a 24-48 hr brine with a 24 hr rest to distribute the salt and dry the skin some. I actually have an extra fridge without shelves that can accommodate a 5 gallon pail or a hanging turkey.

I like Larry's idea to do a maple whiskey turkey. I working on a recipe but I havent tried anything yet for real. turkeys are just too costly this time of year.

my problem with smoking a turkey is the lack of gravy. I tried working with the drippings from the wsm, but they are just too smokey. Anybody solve this problem?

quote:

Originally posted by LarryR:
My favorite holiday of the year!

We love this holiday, but unfortunately my cooking is off limits. No-can-cook for T-giving Day. The wife would absolutely kill me if I messed with her day.

How much longer till Christmas?

I'll be following these threads closely because I really want to do a turkey.

I Brine my turkeys, and they turn out great. But a Butterball turkey will just as good as a brined turkey. I always go easy on the wood. It throw on a couple of either Maple or Apple wood chunks. It turns out very tasty. Can't wait to smoke another turkey soon.....

quote:

Originally posted by j biesinger:

brining is key, plan to do a 24-48 hr brine with a 24 hr rest to distribute the salt and dry the skin some. my problem with smoking a turkey is the lack of gravy. I tried working with the drippings from the wsm, but they are just too smokey. Anybody solve this problem?

So I guess the brining would have to be done on Monday morning?... let it sit for two days, take it out on Wednesday morning and let it dry for 24 hours.

How long do you smoke a 12-16 lb. bird?

What do you guys put in your brines? last year I used apple juice but it was too appley as you may have guessed. I would think just water and some salt.

As for the gravy... yeah I ran into the same issue last year, not enough. What are the solutions?

Glad we`re talking about this now.

quote:

Originally posted by j biesinger:
I've had a fair amount of success with chipotle orange recipe that I could help you with.

brining is key, plan to do a 24-48 hr brine with a 24 hr rest to distribute the salt and dry the skin some. I actually have an extra fridge without shelves that can accommodate a 5 gallon pail or a hanging turkey.

I like Larry's idea to do a maple whiskey turkey. I working on a recipe but I havent tried anything yet for real. turkeys are just too costly this time of year.

my problem with smoking a turkey is the lack of gravy. I tried working with the drippings from the wsm, but they are just too smokey. Anybody solve this problem?

j, check out webernation.com grilling classes, Apple Brined Turkey with Big Time Gravy. Jamie cooks his turkey on a Performer. I have done this several times and it is great, the gravy is the best I have ever had and isn't too smokey and the turkey breast is very moist.

Ben

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Setzer:

quote:

Originally posted by j biesinger:
I've had a fair amount of success with chipotle orange recipe that I could help you with.

brining is key, plan to do a 24-48 hr brine with a 24 hr rest to distribute the salt and dry the skin some. I actually have an extra fridge without shelves that can accommodate a 5 gallon pail or a hanging turkey.

I like Larry's idea to do a maple whiskey turkey. I working on a recipe but I havent tried anything yet for real. turkeys are just too costly this time of year.

my problem with smoking a turkey is the lack of gravy. I tried working with the drippings from the wsm, but they are just too smokey. Anybody solve this problem?

j, check out webernation.com grilling classes, Apple Brined Turkey with Big Time Gravy. Jamie cooks his turkey on a Performer. I have done this several times and it is great, the gravy is the best I have ever had and isn't too smokey and the turkey breast is very moist.

Ben

Ben, that was the one I used last year except I didn`t have enough gravy but yeah, it was quite nice.

quote:

So I guess the brining would have to be done on Monday morning?... let it sit for two days, take it out on Wednesday morning and let it dry for 24 hours.

How long do you smoke a 12-16 lb. bird?

What do you guys put in your brines? last year I used apple juice but it was too appley as you may have guessed. I would think just water and some salt.

exactly. the past couple of years (since I started smoking a bird) I've started the brining process on sunday to make sure the brine is good and cold for monday, let it soak from mon night to weds night and let it hang in the fridge until smoke o'clock on friday.

I think orange adds a nice flavor and it seems to go with cranberry. I've been buying a double sized can of concentrated oj and adding it to a 2 gallon batch of brine. I've debated with friend, as well as resident vwb expert kevin, about whether flavors really penetrate the meat. as far as I'm concerned, the jury's still out.

as far as smoke times, I run the wsm in the 300*s with a probe in the breast, and pull it off when it gets to 160*.

J-
How many hours roughly on the WSM?
EB

gotta check my notes. but in the 300*s, it usually matches whatever is suggested for oven cooking.

Don't worry about low and slow here. If you have a big bird, you'll have plenty of time to lay on smoke. And brining helps prevent overshooting your target doneness. I think alton brown said something like you have a 2* window with an unbrined bird, brining gives you something like 10-20* window.

One thing you might want to practice that's always a hit is to fillet the breasts off the carcass and carve them against grain. That way every slice gets a bit of the smoky, spicy exterior meat. The finishing touch is to have a loong spatula to lift the sliced breast off the cutting board in one move, so it can be fanned out on a serving platter. People always complement my finished platter when its two sliced and fanned breasts, dark meat, legs and wings all nicely arranged.

Here are some photos of an apple brined maple smoked turkey I did awhile back. It was easy, and one of the best smoke turkeys I have ever tasted. Enjoy

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2AZMnDhk1ZMWEk

dang, that looked great, michael!

I just pulled a 12 pound turkey out of the brine for an air dry in the frig. I will be putting it in the WSM tomorrow. This thread came in very handy for me, thanks Ernest!
After looking at the fantastic pictures, from Larry and Michael, I have a quick question...
Is there any reason you both did not use lump? I just picked up more RO Lump for the cook tomorrow, so I was just wondering.
Thanks!